The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 - Major Hazard Facilities (MHF) Regulations was released in 2016 and specified that if a facility has hazardous substances over a set threshold, then it is designated as an MHF.
Koppers Performance Chemicals New Zealand Ltd (KPCNZ) is a timber treatment chemical manufacturer. Our Wiri based plant has been classed as an Upper- Tier Major Hazard Facility based on the volume of hazardous chemicals (in particular – HSNO Class 6 – toxics) on site.
| Name of Operator | Koppers Performance Chemicals New Zealand Ltd |
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| Location of Facility | 14 Mayo Road, Wiri, Auckland, 2104 |
| Person from whom information can be requested | The Duty Operator 09 277 7770 |
| General Description | KPCNZ provides wood preservatives & technical services to our valued customers in New Zealand and abroad. We have several batch process and chemical blending plants on our site. |
| How will a major incident at the facility be notified? |
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| What should members of the public do if an incident occurs? |
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The MHF Regulations require upper-tier MHFs to develop a Safety Case that demonstrates our ability to operate and maintain our facility safely. This means that we have identified all potential major incidents, and we are using appropriate controls to minimise the risks of these incidents so far as is reasonably practicable.
A major incident is defined in the regulations as an uncontrolled event at an MHF that involves specified hazardous substances (e.g. Arsenic Trioxide) and exposes multiple persons to a serious risk to their health or safety.
A Safety Case is a demonstration that KPCNZ has processes in place that are capable of managing hazards associated with the operation of our facility safely.
This requires a demonstration that such hazards are systematically and continuously identified, assessed and that adequate hardware and management controls are implemented to ensure residual risk during operations is tolerable and have been reduced So Far As Is Reasonably Practical. The implementation of the Safety Case is a key step involving workforce engagement, awareness, training and assurance.
Our Safety Case was accepted by WorkSafe New Zealand on 14th April 2020.
Safety Management System Summary
Our Safety Management System (SMS) describes and provides the framework for the way we assure conformity and compliance for our customers, communities and applicable regulatory bodies, i. e., WorkSafe and the Ministry of Primary Industries. Through the SMS, we are able to achieve a consistently high standard of health and safety performance. All aspects of the SMS are actively managed with performance verification systems in place. These systems are designed to help prevent a major incident from occurring and minimise the impact of a major incident if one does occur.
We believe in ‘safety by design’, and our Safety Case demonstrates how the KPCNZ older plants have been replaced, redesigned, manufactured and installed with safety at the forefront of each step. Likewise, our standard operating procedures and preventative maintenance practices are all implemented to enhance safety.
Safety Assessment Summary
The safety assessment process provides a comprehensive and systematic analysis of major incident hazards at KPCNZ. Our team of senior leaders, managers and operators have worked together with consultants, experts and external agencies using a variety of methods to evaluate risks and establish adequate risk control measures. The safety assessment demonstrates that we have implemented the identified systems, controls and monitoring needed to manage the hazards and reduce the major incident risks so far as is reasonably practicable. We also examined the risks to our immediate neighbours in the event of a major incident at KPCNZ. Through our safety assessment studies and consequence modelling, we show that it is extremely unlikely for a major incident to have a direct impact on the immediate neighbours or the local community.
Emergency Response Plan Summary
Working with the various emergency services, we have developed a comprehensive emergency management plan for KPCNZ which focuses on the safety of workers and the community. The KPCNZ Emergency Response Procedure outlines the emergency management structure, the standardised functions and the supporting systems which will operate and enable KPCNZ to gain control over and/ or mitigate the consequences to people, the environment and assets in the event of an emergency or post-emergency incident. This also sets out the Emergency Response Plan requirements for the facility, which include: -
Audible evacuation sirens are sounded to alert on-site personnel to follow the site evacuation procedures and activate the Emergency Response Plan. Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) will assume control of any major incident on-site, in collaboration with us, local authorities and other emergency service agencies.
People in the community do not need to take any immediate action if they hear these sirens. In the event of a major incident, we will notify immediate neighbours or affected parties by our dedicated multi text system. In the case of an emergency FENZ will direct members of the public if any action is required.
It is important that members of the public do not approach or try to gain access to the facility. Barriers will be erected to prevent access to the site if required.
Information to the local community will be provided by notices at local community centres.
Types of Emergency Scenarios (may result in flames, smoke, fumes, colour or smell):
We have systems in place to ensure the safety case and its requirements are maintained, reviewed and revised in accordance with the MHF Regulations. This document presents a summary of the safety case for the KPCNZ Wiri Plant. For further information, please contact the duty operator on 09 277 7770
More information regarding the requirements for major hazard facilities is available from the WorkSafe NZ website https://www.worksafe.govt.nz/notifications/major-hazard-facilities/.
